friendship and honor

I woke up in a bit of a fog, just didn’t seem to be hitting on all eight. The night before I had a long, late, confusing conversation, that I was trying to make sense of. Actually, the entire weekend had confused me. George and I got together with Mo, and his Mom over in Kennett Square for some food and drink on Saturday night. Earlier that Saturday Mozer called, telling me we should head over to Lou Turks, and spend a little time with the Girls. My money was bad, it had been a rough start to the New Year for us both, Dancing Girls were the last thing on my mind. He said he’d buy the Beers and give me a few bucks for the Girls. He got to my house upbeat, quite a contrast from the Thursday before, when he showed up, telling me he had figured it all out.——————– For about a year things had been funny, funny in a bad way, the only good was him making peace with Al, his Father, before he had passed.————————————— The scene over at Murphy’s had been crazy, Police showing up, taking him off to County several times. Each time he bailed, they would pick him up again. Mo was a good guy with a big heart, sure, he had some trouble over the years, but at this time in his life, he amounted to little more than a nuisance.———— About two years before, Chuckles the idiot pickled on Vodka, had asked Craig to go with him to collect some money. The person he was meeting had asked the Cops to tag along. That Idiot Chuckles had a gun with him, and understandably the Police were pissed. A mandatory five years was the price for that gun. That Drunk and I never got along, we would tolerate each other. I never trusted him, he would, even up to this day tell you, he’s a better man than me. Rather than being responsible for his stupidity, he switched sides, wearing a wire over the next two years. He was really good at it, being Scum came natural. The Cops wanted Mo to stay at County, and set a plan, to cut the bail money off. Mo’s Mother was keeping him free, so the Snitch asked Craig to drop something off at her house for him to pickup, to give law enforcement cause to seize her home. On that Thursday, when he came to my door, the look he had in his eyes, I had only seen once before in my life. A few weeks before we had been driving in the country when we had a Buck trapped between his van and a high bank. I was eye to eye with that Buck, his eyes bulging, as he ran beside us, panicked, not knowing weather to jump the Ford, or the bank.—————–As I opened the door, he said, “I’M DOWN”.
Although Chuckles and I had no love lost, I was shocked, learning he had turned on Craig. They had a trust in each other, cultivated through the years. Hard to believe someone could be so evil.————– That Saturday, going to the Bar, Mo seemed to be over it all, he WAS over it all. Thinking back, I should have known this wasn’t right, I was just too close. I remember him thanking me for coming with him to the bar, as we left, heading back to his Mother’s home.——————- George, Mo, his Mother Jane and Myself had a wonderful evening, a little wine with dinner, and then the Bush mills. We told stories, relished in the good times of our past. He told us he had figured it out but never shared the secret. Finely, George and I were chased away, as he needed some rest. You see, Saturday night was for George and I, his friends. On Sunday, he had planned to spend with his Three Sisters and his Ex Wife. Sunday went almost as late as Saturday, him calling me about 2:30am. The Upbeat Mozer was Bulldozed, his reality staring him in the face. He told me about the evening with his family. I had been sleeping, and found it hard to make sense of it all. He said he got a little something from his Ex, I told him he sounded like he’d been crying. He said “well hell yea I’ve been crying”. We talked more than an hour, time spent that I will always cherish. When he asked me to call his Mother at 8:00am, I remember thinking how strange of a request. Actually, he had me promise him. The last thing he said to me was, “Ed, you’ve been a good friend”.———– Just a couple weeks before, at Christmas, Jane, his Mother, had called me, telling me we were both being stupid. We were having another one of our little spats, and for us to forget about it, that it was Christmas, and to just come over. I will be forever grateful for that call! Thank you Jane, I can’t imagine how it would be, leaving that fence unmended ————————————————- I awoke Monday Morning, about a quarter to eight, trying to make sense of that last call from Mo. He had asked me to call his Mother at eight, I kept asking why, He kept telling me, “don’t worry about it, just promise you will” I promised and was waiting for eight, just trying to make sense of it all. At about five to eight the phone rang. On the other end of the line was Dan. Craig’s sister Janet was married to Dan. It made no sense to me why Dan would call, and then I knew… he told me Mo was dead.

Mo